The Place we call home: Welcome Home
by stammivicino
Summary: Victor Nikiforov, Russia's living legend, and a five-time consecutive champion at the Grand Prix finals met his destined star, Katsuki Yuuri, who has met his ultimate loss at the finals. He has always looked up to Victor and served as his inspiration in life. One night, who would've thought that these two destined stars will cross their paths that will change their lives forever?


**Welcome Home**

Stammivicino

Summary:

* * *

During the night of the banquet:

"It's funny how I've been living without my ' _L words'_." The Russian laughed mockingly to himself as the Japanese skater, who is in a drunken state looked at him through his hazelnut eyes and smiled, leaving the Russian enthralled with the raven's expression, "Well, you should find your ' _L words'_ before it's too late." Victor chuckled softly as his hand travelled to the skater's head and pats it as he looked up at the stars, "I think I've found it already."

* * *

 **Chapter 01: The Red-thread of fate**

They say that if you see your own reflection in the person's eyes,

That person is the one destined for you.

/ /

"He has once again won at the finals! It's his fifth consecutive Grand Prix Final victory for the Russia's living legend, Victor Nikiforov!"

The colourful bright lights were flickering around the stadium as the audience starts to shout and celebrate the end of the Grand Prix Finals.

"Nikiforov is now 27 years old, and there have been speculations that he might retire for the season. As for Katsuki Yuuri, who earned a spot for the grand prix finals for the first time, have fallen in the last place, he didn't seem to perform well today."

"Yuuri! Don't look at the news." Yuuri's coach, Celestino said, as he tried to stop and refrain the Japanese from reading negative articles about his fall in the competition.

Yuuri continued to scroll through his feeds, most news are about Victor's success making him sigh at himself, feeling disappointed at his own failure. He's been always dreaming on being at the same rink, same podium with his idol, Victor Nikiforov. As he continued to scroll through his feed, he suddenly stopped when he caught a glimpse of a short article about him that made his heart fall:

/ /

 **Katsuki Yuuri falls to Last Place. Would this be his Last Season?**

Article by: Thompson Wilford

Katsuki Yuuri, for the first time has been qualified for the Grand Prix Finals. But, during his free program everyone saw many of his devastating falls during his skate. It has been said that his family dog has recently died and this might be the cause of his sudden failure at his skating. Will this be Katsuki Yuuri's last season?

/ /

 _Failure…_

Yuuri held his phone tightly and looked down to the ground, he felt like he wants to puke out all his unsettling and overwhelming emotions coming to his throat.

"Excuse me, Celestino I'll just go to the restroom." Yuuri stood up as his coach just watched him with worry. The raven slowly walked his way out of the back room and makes his way going to the nearest restroom. As soon as he found one, he went inside to one of its cubicle and locked himself in, putting the lid down and sat on it.

' _Failure at his skating…'_

The Japanese skater leaned his back while looking up on the ceiling. He wanted to cry, let out a lot of tears. What if skating wasn't really for him that's why he's a failure? What if this isn't really the place where he belongs? That's what the raven thought as negative emotions starts to overwhelm himself. Suddenly, his phone vibrated from his hold, breaking the unsettling aura surrounding him. He looked at his phone's screen and saw that his mother was calling him, maybe worried because of his devastating performance. He answered the call button and puts the phone close to his ear, "Hi, mom. Did you watch it?"

" _Yeah, I did. You were amazing Yuuri! You did your best even if you had a bad result. Everyone is still cheering on you here."_ His mother's words hits him hard like a rock, he felt like a stake was pierced through his organ. His tears started to show up as it trailed down to his cheeks, trying to hold himself back from making crying noises to avoid his mother to get more worried, "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. I'm sorry if I messed up. Yeah, I'll be home by next year. Yeah bye, I'll see you home." Yuuri hanged up and curled himself, putting both of his hand on his face with an expression of being depressed and at the same time, scared. He let out his uncontrollable tears completely fall as he couldn't stop to let his crying noises out, "I-I—"

 _BAM!_

Suddenly the door in his cubicle was about to break when someone kicked it with force. He quickly stood up and wiped his tears before opening the door in his cubicle, "I-I'm sorry it took so long—"

A short figure wearing the Russian teams' jacket was in front of him; both hands were on each side of the jacket's pocket and looking at the Japanese skater annoyingly. Suddenly Yuuri's eyes widened when he took a clear look at the Russian's face, _"T-This… is the R-Russian Punk. Y-Yuri Plisetsky!"_ He can hear his own fearful voice in his thoughts, _"H-He's looking at me like I'm a piece of trash! D-Did I do something to annoy him!?"_

"You." The blonde Russian blurted out as pointed a finger at him making the raven jolt a little in fear as a reaction, "I'm competing the senior division next year and we don't need two Yuri's in the same bracket. Failures like you should retire already. YOU IDIOT!" The Russian tiger shouted at Yuuri's face. Yuuri didn't react and was just astonished at his situation with the other Yuri. After the blonde Russian was done with his business with the Japanese, he walked out of the restroom and left the stunned skater alone.

"You shouldn't be too harsh with him, Yuri." A thick Russian accent was heard by his fellow blonde Russian. Plisetsky turned his head to the figure who was leaning back at the wall with his arms crossed, "What the fuck do you want, Victor?"

Victor pulled himself away from the wall as his hand travelled to his hips, his head tilted a little to the side with his fringe following the motion of his head. The older male was smiling softly at the Russian tiger, "Yakov is looking for you, time for us to go. We still need to prepare for the gathering tonight." Victor starts to walk away from the back room and makes his way going back to their coach.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming." Plisetsky clicked his tongue in irritation as he followed the tall figure of his rink mate.

/ /

' _Failures like you should retire already. YOU IDIOT!'_

Yuuri looked down on the floor as he walked his way out of the event place together with his coach. Celestino noticed Yuuri's unsettling actions and furrowed his eyebrows in worry, "Yuuri, I'm sure you can make it next time—"

"Katsuki-kun!"

Yuuri stopped walking along with his coach once someone called out his name. He turned around to see who was calling him and he spotted a familiar figure, it was Morooka, the newscaster, "Please don't give up yet! It's too early to retire!" he suddenly blurted out.

" _Maybe he read the article."_ Yuuri thought and looked to the newscasters' eyes who has the eye of determination in making Yuuri not quit his profession, "Please don't quickly jump into conclusions, I'm still going discuss these matters with my coach." He simply responded.

"What will you do after this? Will you still train in Detroit?" A train of questions from the newscaster were quickly asked to him making Yuuri slowly sink himself in trying unthink these questions as for this moment.

" _I don't want to think about these things right now."_

"Will you keep going? Or you will stop? It's not too late for you to go to Japan!" Morooka's words just slowly passed through Yuuri's ear as his thoughts were completely the only things he can only hear from himself.

" _Vicchan, I'm sorry…"_

"Yuri." The raven jolted in surprise as a familiar tone of voice was heard not from afar, but was actually going to his direction. Yuuri quickly turned his head to the familiar voice and saw his idol, Victor Nikiforov walking with the Russian tiger, Yuri Plisetsky.

"About your free program, you should've—" Victor starts to lecture Yuri around but was cut off by the blonde, "I already won so who the fuck cares?"

Yuuri watched the two Russian's as they passed by him, his eyes still widened in surprise after seeing his idol almost up close, _"Oh, so he was referring to the Russian Yuri."_

"Oi! Yuri! You can't talk like that!" Yakov, Victor and Yuri's coach starts to lecture Yuri about his bad behaviour.

"Quit nagging me you old geezer." Yuri spit it out as looked away annoyingly at is coach making Yakov snapped and continued to scold the Russian tiger.

The raven continued to watch the Russian's group as he suddenly caught a glimpse of Victor laughing, _"He's having fun… Someday, If I do have a chance, I would like to—Oh no, he's looking at me..!?"_ Yuuri's face flushed a little when he noticed the Russian's eyes turned his gaze at him, "A commemorative photo? Sure!" The Russian smiled at him as Yuuri quickly turned his back at the Russian and walked away, _"I don't want him to see me as a failure."_

/ /

"Yuuri! Are you finished?" Celestino knocked on Yuuri's room, "It's almost time for the banquet."

The door to Yuuri's hotel room opened as the raven walked out, "Do I really need to attend?"

"Of course Yuuri! A skater must also learn about etiquette and the proper socialization with other skaters." Celestino responded excitedly. He grabbed Yuuri by the shoulders and starts to push him all the way going to the event hall.

Once they arrived at the gathering, all of the competitive skaters were there, talking and socializing with each other. The mood was very lively as they celebrated their attainment in joining and qualifying for the grand prix finals. Yuuri's mood on the other hand was completely sour and depressing. Celestino tried to cheer Yuuri up by saying that there are lots of great foods but it seemed like it didn't help.

"Celestino, please don't worry about me and just enjoy the banquet." Yuuri smiled a little at his coach. Celestino furrowed his eyebrows in worry, "Are you sure, Yuuri?" the raven nodded, "I'll just take some champagne and see what I can do with the next hours."

"Okay, but if you need anything you can find me there with the other coaches, okay?" Celestino pointed at the table where the coaches of different skaters gathered. Yuuri nodded, "I will. Please enjoy your night, coach." And with that Celestino walked towards the group of coaches to join their little gathering.

Yuuri sighed and wanted to go back to his hotel room but, at the same time he felt like he wanted to stay even just for an hour since this might be his last banquet as a skater. The raven started to look around him searching for some drinkable liquid since he felt like his throat was going dry. Suddenly, he took a glance at a table full of glasses and filled with champagne. He starts to make his way through the crowd as he suddenly passed by the silver-haired Russian. Yuuri didn't notice him since his eyes were focused on the drinks served freely at the table. Victor had a glimpse of the Japanese skater and peeked, "Hmm… That is the guy Yuri is shouting at earlier."

Yuuri starts to drink his first champagne and slammed the glass but not too hard on the table as he took his second drink.

" _And he seems not to be enjoying the party. I wonder if his coach just dragged him here."_ Victor continued to check the Japanese Yuuri out watching him take in his 6th glass of champagne, _"Whoa, is he alright?"_

Yuuri grabs a bottle of champagne and starts to get away from the table feeling dizzy and was completely drunk. He already lost himself as he starts to open the cap of the champagne, drinking the liquid from there. Everyone looked at the raven as he started to take his necktie off, "Yuri Plisetsky! I battle you to a dance-off!"

Yuri scoffed at the Japanese skater, "It seems like he lost it." Everyone starts to gather around Yuuri to watch the challenge, "Fine! I'll go with your stupid act." The blonde Russian settled his drink down on a table and went to Yuuri. Both males gazed upon each other as a hint of rivalry blazed on their eyes. On cue, the music starts and their battle begins!

During the heating dance battle Victor joined with Yuuri for a dance and both males enjoyed each other's laughs and smile present on their faces. Even though Yuuri was completely drunk, his heart fluttered when Victor was near him, making contact to with each other's touch. As if it knows that his idol was enjoying his night with him. Suddenly in a flash, Yuuri is already on the pole with Chris, having the greatest entertainment the hall had. After the dance battle has ended, Yuuri won the challenge he made between him and the Russian tiger.

"I'll get you next time, asshole!" Yuri shouted and was completely irritated at his lost to the person who placed last at the Grand Prix, "You better prepare yourself next time! I swear I'll— WHAT THE FUCK!?"

In just a swift movement, Yuuri was already clinging onto Victor's body, "Bwictoruuu~ you should visit the hot springs my family runs next time." Victor gazed upon the drunken skater with his eyes widened in astonishment, "If I win the next dance battle, you will become my coach right~?" Yuuri looked at Victor's azure eyes, his hazelnut eyes were sparkling under the bright lights of the chandelier. Yuuri wrapped his arm around the tall Russian's neck and hummed, "Be my cooooooach~ Bwictooooooru~"

Victor's was completely enthralled by this Japanese skater, he looked at him for almost more than a minute with Yuuri clinging around him before Celestino went to the scene and tries to calm Yuuri down, "Y-Yuuri, let's get you back to your room."

"Noooo~ I wanna be with bwictoooru~ Bwictooooor~" Yuuri continuously hugged Victor tightly, not giving any indication that he will let go.

"Yuuri, come on now. Don't give Victor a hard time." Celestino patted yuuri's back, "Come on."

"Celestino, let me take care of him instead." Victor said as he smiled at Yuuri's coach. He wrapped his arms around Yuuri to support him and prevent him from falling.

"A-Are you sure?"

Victor nodded, "Yes, I'm sure. Everyone please continues to have fun with the party." The Russian smiled at everyone telling them to continue the postponed party. Minutes later everyone was starting to have fun once again. Victor led Yuuri to seat and starts to put his clothes back on him, "Bwictor is so beautiful~" Yuuri ruffled Victor's hair playfully. The silver-haired male froze as he felt his hand ruffling his hair, "Yuuri, let's get you some fresh air." Victor stood up and helped Yuuri to the balcony.

The cold breeze hits their skin as both males were outside on the balcony, Yuuri slumped over the railings of the balcony as he was drunken smiling. Victor on the other hand was watching the raven as the atmosphere around them was silent, "Bwictoooru, how come you are so perfect?"

Victor chuckled, "Thank you for the compliment but, I'm not really perfect. It's actually funny how I've been living without my ' _L words'_." The Russian laughed mockingly to himself as the Japanese skater, who is in a drunken state looked at him through his hazelnut eyes and smiled, leaving the Russian enthralled with the raven's expression, "Well, you should find your ' _L words'_ before it's too late." Victor chuckled softly as his hand travelled to the skater's head and pats it as he looked up at the stars, "I think I've found it already."

Yuuri loved Victor's touch he slowly closed his eyes and enjoyed every moment of the male's touch.

 _Let's stay like this, even if it's just for a little while…_

/ /

 **One year later**

"Yeah? The Japanese Yuuri? Sure, send me the link."

Victor sat on the couch as is dog a poodle followed him and slept in between his legs. The Russian clicked at the video his friend sent him. As he watched through the video, he realized that the man who was in the banquet with him last night, was also the one in the video who was imitating his skate program. Victor watched the Japanese with seriousness, after the video ended, a smile starts to build up on his face, "At last, I finally found you."


End file.
